The following is a slightly expanded version of a story told many times to my students as they were starting the year in their ensembles. This was my solution to a common problem we face. Certainly, other pro horn players might propose a different solution. But you do no matter what have to decide where to focus for purposes of intonation in a large ensemble.
When I was hired as Third Horn in Nashville, of course the opening occurred because someone else left the orchestra. Among other things, early in my first year I was told that the previous Third Horn tended to play persistently sharp. As I wanted to keep the job, playing very in tune was obviously a necessity!
Before continuing this story, for many things in life the key to success is problem solving skills. The following is how I approached this problem.
I quickly adopted a tactic where I tuned as closely as I could to the Principal Horn and the Principal Clarinet. Tuning to the Principal Horn is obviously necessary for anyone in a horn section, and I was sitting directly behind the Principal Clarinet, so that was a no brainer as well; she was very easy to hear, with wonderful intonation.
I also played some services as first horn, and when I was in that chair, I focused my attention entirely on the principal woodwinds and mostly on the oboe and clarinet. The general principle I came to see clearly is that the horns and woodwinds form a block of sound in the middle of the group, and the rest of the orchestra tunes to us. At least they should….
Of course, this is probably not what your band directors told you to do in school; they often tell students to tune up from the bottom and listen to the tuba. And it might not be at all how others would choose to solve this problem. But for me, my conclusion was that I simply had to tune to the highest voices – the highest voices in the horn section, and the highest voices in the woodwind section.
Which leads to two important points I regularly suggest to my students. One is to never tune to the string section; they need to tune to the woodwinds and horns, and you hope that the woodwind principals are not tuning to the strings either. The other is, you really hope that the trumpets tune to the woodwinds — but they might not, and you just must adjust to them when playing with them. In one group I played in professionally, at some point, as gently as I could, I asked the Principal Trumpet what he tuned to, and he told me that he tuned to the timpani. Which was why I was having such trouble playing in tune with him, as he was not tuning to the Principal Oboe which was my point of reference. In this type of situation, the group will never really be in tune, and as first horn you have no choice but to adjust your tuning on the fly to match either the trumpets or the woodwinds, depending on the orchestration.
Finally, I’ve suggested multiple times to students on first horn in orchestra, when intonation is a concern, it is a good idea to politely and gently talk to the principal oboe and principal clarinet, just to let them know you are tuning to them, and don’t adjust to you on horn. Be very diplomatic and careful with your wording, you don’t at all want to cause a dramatic situation or misunderstanding. But this is a conversation that can be worth having towards settling the intonation and making life easier for you and your section. Good luck!
With a reminder, also, if you can’t play in tune with a tuner, it’s not going to magically be better in ensembles.
